Christmas Spirits
by OfMusicandMayhem
Summary: This was my first Christmas at camp, and certainly the strangest Christmas I've ever had. It had only been two months since I left my hometown, and I was worried that due to missing my family, I wouldn't enjoy the season. As it would happen, I would't ruin the holiday for myself at all. Someone else had that idea.
1. Chapter 1

**OMG! I've uploaded something! This is a short holiday fic, set in the world of my PJO series. It will be three chapters long. If you wish to read more into Jade's story, start with When Opportunity Strikes. For those of you still waiting on the next book in my PJO series, know that I'm still working on it, and I haven't forgotten.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I do own Jade, Lucy, Kyle, and any other characters you don't recognize from the series.**

_This story is set within _When Opportunity Strikes.

* * *

Christmas Spirits

_A Jade Egilhard Story_

Chapter One

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year – and that may not surprise you. But trust me, when life throws impending doom your way every other weekend, you tend to be glad when you can lay back, spend time with family, and give a little back to the ones who keep you from losing your mind (and head with it).

I definitely wasn't the only one excited about this time of year. Just about every day of the December month, I was awoken by Lucy jumping around (sometimes _on_) me, and counting down the seconds 'til the twenty-fifth. This was the only time I didn't mind when she did something like that and at points I would join her in celebration.

This year would mark my first Christmas at Camp. I still had those moments where I would find myself in a homesick state, and though it was becoming easier to deal with as the months passed, this was still my first Christmas away from home. It was funny, though, that most of the homesickness seemed to dissipate around the dining pavilion.

The pavilion was set up different than usual, mostly due to the holidays. The tables were pushed together and the seating rules that usually applied were non-existent. There was a lot of excited chatter due to Christmas being two days away. Even Mr. D seemed to be in a good mood! The kitchen-harpies seemed to spare no expense on the food, which made my day even better. Some campers were already trading presents. I had to drop my drumstick to catch one that was flying my way.

"That one's meant for Mike!" Someone yelled at me. I wasn't sure which Mike he meant (it was such a common name), but I assumed from the head that raised up over the crowd at the sound of the voice, it was him.

"Got it!" I yelled back and tossed the present over a crowd of people.

"Thanks!"

It was a beautiful chaos. The very air seemed to laugh with us. A small blanket of snow – just enough for a decent snowball fight, but thankfully not enough soak your socks – covered the area, but it was warm here in the pavilion. I didn't think too much on it. My mind was focused on other things. Like Kyle and Lucy to my right, the latter trying to snatch a piece of ham off of the former's plate, starting a fork war.

You've never seen a fork war until you've seen how it's done at Camp Half-Blood.

The good cheer lasted all throughout the day. Training went as normal, though the archery targets were decked out like ornaments and strung up on a huge evergreen. That was one brave dryad! A lot of the newer campers, like myself, seemed to be in a state where we weren't sure if we should be celebrating or being stuck in the past. I was mostly lost in the moment of celebration, but by the end of the day, when everyone settled into bed, I stayed awake and thought back to the Salvin's. It was only two days until Christmas proper. It was the holiday that most of us looked forward to, and I wasn't there to celebrate with them. Were they going to be sad I was gone or would it be a normal Christmas? Both ideas stung a bit.

"Since we're all still awake," said Kyle out-of-the-blue, making me jump. "Why don't we find something to do?"

Lucy huffed, as if wondering how he could tell. She shot up out of bed and crossed her arms with a silly expression on her face. Somewhere between curiosity and irritation. I guessed she was waiting for us to fall asleep so she could try and peek at the presents we hid beneath our bunks. It's not like we didn't notice the little holes poked in the corners of the wrapping paper, though I didn't know how she could tell anything when it was so dark.

Kyle stood and stretched, placing and lighting a candle on a small table he had made in woodshop. He had argued that it was a corner table, but I pulled the darned thing out and in the center of the room anyway. I didn't hear any complaints afterward, so I guess he didn't mind. It looked like a serpentine dragon and the tabletop rested above it. I remembered walking into the cabin, seeing it in the corner one day and nearly running off before I realized what it was. It was so life-like. I figure if Kyle didn't become a professional monster-hunter, he'd have a good job in carpentry.

I sat up, regarding Kyle. "What did you have in mind?"

He shrugged, "Best Christmas ever?" Lucy instantly brightened.

"Oooh! Remember last year, when I went home with you? That was an _awesome_ year! I still can't believe that pop star came to the party."

"He only lives two streets away…"

"Sorry? Since when do you hang out with celebrities?" I asked.

"Since forever." He had that look in his eyes that meant he was enjoying the look of disbelief on my face. "I used to go to school with his son."

"So… why stick around this year instead of being with your family?"

It seemed a simple question to ask, but he just stared at me. "Jade. You _are_ family. And I couldn't leave you with Lucy over the holidays. You'd go insane."

"Does that mean you're already insane? You two have been in the same cabin for… how long now?"

"Just two years. Seems to drag on forever."

Lucy knew we were joking, but she gave an indignant growl at the jabs. I smiled. I don't know about some campers, but sometimes it was easy to forget that these two were my brother and sister. The thought was so new to me, even though I had been here for two months now.

"So what about you? Have a favorite year?"

I thought for a long while. "Maybe a few years ago. The Salvin's took us to see a – "

I never got to finish. All too suddenly, the candle had blown out and the room started to freeze. The windows were curtained over, but I could hear the ice crystallizing over them. We had all become silent. The dim glow of celestial bronze appeared in place of the candle – Kyle's sword – and I reached for a bow and some arrows. Kyle held up a hand, telling us to stay where we were. He walked to the door and peeked outside of it.

He motioned with a hand outside the door and I heard the crunching of snow, the closing of a door. There must have been other campers outside. After a while of scouting, he closed the door again and turned to us. "Get some sleep. Whatever's going on isn't happening, yet."

I was glad he didn't say it was nothing. He was always honest like that. There was _no way_ it could be nothing. The candle, the windows, the overwhelming sense of foreboding…

And the distant shriek from the forest, silencing all else.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I do own Jade, Lucy, Kyle, and any other characters you don't recognize from the series.**

_This story is set within _When Opportunity Strikes.

* * *

Christmas Spirits

_A Jade Egilhard Story_

Chapter Two

I woke up to the sound of armor (strange how it was becoming so familiar). Kyle was gearing up for something. I sat up slowly, rubbing my eyes and yawning. I stared, and he didn't even turn to regard me as he answered the silent question. "Chiron's set up a scouting party. Take care of Lucy."

"Take care 'o yerself." I responded sleepily. He nodded and ruffled my hair as he passed by. I plopped back down on the pillow and readied myself to wait until Lucy woke up. By the time she did, I was so bored I had started cleaning the dirt from under my nails with an arrowhead. Don't try that at home.

She sat up and looked around. I snorted at her dazed expression – or it might have been those frog-in-a-santa-hat pajamas – and quickly explained what was happening with Kyle. "C'mon. I think it's about time for breakfast, and I'm in the mood for dry pancakes."

She wrinkled her nose. "How do you _eat_ that?"

"With a fork. Bite by bite. Preferably with some OJ on the side." She stuck her tongue out at me. She didn't seem to understand the concept of 'too sweet'. It quickly became a race of who could grab their stuff and get to the bathroom first. I stomped and grunted when the door slammed on me. Leaning against the wall, I slid down to sit on the floor and began the waiting game once again.

I heard Lucy's muffled voice through the door. "Hey, can you braid my hair?"

I nodded, then inwardly smacked myself for doing so. "Yeah, sure. After I get my turn."

"Do you think Kyle's okay?"

"Why wouldn't he be?"

"Last night was scary…"

I went silent. I had to agree with her. You couldn't pay me to go out in that forest after last night. Not even if I was with a group. I don't know why I had this bad feeling. It was as if someone had taken the Christmas cheer and ripped it into tiny pieces. And all that remained was the idea that something awful was going to happen. Lucy finally exited the bathroom, looking at me for an answer.

"Kyle's brave, but he knows when to cut his losses. And he can defend himself pretty well. Those three things don't always come in a package deal. If anyone is okay out there, it's him. He's been taking care of us since forever, hasn't he? _That_ certainly deserves a medal of valor! Or stubbornness. That one, too. I dunno if there's a medal for that though…"

She laughed. At least she was feeling better. I waved her over, signaling for her to sit beside me so I could braid her hair. It was silent after that. We went through our morning routine as if the slightest sound could shatter the walls. It took a while for me to notice that the usual hubbub of the camp was nowhere to be found, either. When I stepped outside, I found I was ready to blow a gasket at whatever jumped out at me. Apparently I wasn't the only one, because as soon as I walked out I saw a few arguments and glaring contests starting up or waiting to happen.

Lucy took hold of my hand and I frowned, squeezing her hand and leading her toward the dining pavilion. "Let's… just go on. It's not our business."

I still wasn't sure why I was on guard, ready to snap at people for the slightest thing. I started noticing things I never had before. Like those boots. Why didn't I have a pair like them? In fact, why didn't I have a pair _better_ than them? I froze and shook my head.

_What brought that on?_

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the strawberry fields. The plants looked horrible to say the least. Usually, I wouldn't have been surprised if they had started blooming in winter, they were so hardy. But one gust of wind, and a patch of them fell to pieces.

It took a while, but we had finally arrived at the pavilion. We found where all the hubbub went. It was loud – not like the day before, when everyone was in high spirits. Arguments had broken out. A lot of people looked like they were about to tear each others' throats out. No one was sitting at the tables. I pulled Lucy closer, hoping to shield her from any harm that came our way as we circled around to where we could see the tables and I stopped dead.

Flies and maggots, rotten and rancid food. It looked like someone had just picked it out of the garbage and thrown it on the plates. I turned and walked a few paces away, hand covering my mouth. It took most of my willpower not to throw up. Lucy looked green too, but she seemed to take it better than me. No wonder people were fighting! Whoever did this was sick. A Scrooge if I ever saw one!

Or did it have something to do with the strange things that happened last night? I jumped an backed away when Chiron showed up. He broke through the crowd, conflicts put aside for the more pleasing suggestion of not getting trampled. He turned to us, looking serious and stern.

"Campers! Return to your cabins. All activities will be cancelled due to the issues at hand." Arguments began to break out again, and he nearly had to yell over everyone, "A meeting will be held at the Big House in fifteen minutes! I expect all cabin councilors to be there!"

People continued to argue with him and anyone else. Quickly and quietly, I dragged my little sister out of there and made our way to the cabins as ordered. But Lucy stopped and tugged on my hand. I was about to pull her along when I noticed her looking toward another group of people. The scouting group had returned? It had only been a few hours, but they looked as if they'd been through war. They looked beaten up and starving, some even looked like they had been crying. I panicked and scanned the group for Kyle. We locked eyes, and I understood the message: "I'll tell you later. Watch out for Lucy. Don't trust anyone."


	3. Chapter 3

**Get ready for Christmas cheesiness!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I do own Jade, Lucy, Kyle, and any other characters you don't recognize from the series.**

****_This story is set within _When Opportunity Strikes.

* * *

Christmas Spirits

_A Jade Egilhard Story_

Chapter Three

Whatever good food and snacks that we could find around the Caerus cabin were stockpiled on the little table. Lucy and I had decided that it should be rationed, but neither of could agree on how to go about that. So there we sat, eyes shifting between the food and the door, where Kyle would hopefully come through soon.

"Luce… Wanna split a bag of Cheetos?"

"Mmm…" She replied with a short nod. Those Cheetos didn't last long.

Thankfully, neither did the councilors' meeting. Kyle had staggered in not thirty minutes afterward. He still looked worse for wear and I had to help him out of his armor. "What the hell happened, Kyle?"

He shook his head. "We only got a glimpse of them before all Hades broke loose. They were three old hags."

"So… you were beaten up by three old ladies." He gave me a withering glare. I flinched. I never got the glare before, but it made me squirm whenever he did that to someone. The fact he was giving it to me was scary. Obviously, he wasn't in the mood for my attempts to lighten the mood. "Sorry…"

He continued as he took a seat on his bunk. "It didn't take long for Chiron to call them out for who they were. Achlys, Limos, and Zelus. Spirits of misery, hunger, and jealousy, respectively. They had us whaling on each other before we could ask ourselves why we were doing it."

"That explains what's happening around camp." I guessed. Then my stomach chose to growl at me. I looked back to the food. "Um… Can you help us ration this stuff? Otherwise, I could probably eat all of it right now."

He nodded and went to work silently. I did see that he snatched a banana nut muffin off the table, but I didn't blame him for that one. He had faced the spirit of hunger, herself. I had no doubts that he was just as starving as the rest of us, if not more. It wasn't long after he had finished that our three unwanted guests showed up.

I felt their presence before I saw them. It was almost too much to bear. Dread, weariness, and suspicion flowed through me. All at once, we dashed for the nearest window, pushing and shoving each other out of the way to see what was happening outside.

The sight was shocking. Kyle was not lying when he called them old hags. In fact, he was probably being kind. One of them was pale green, with bleeding cheeks and tear-stained eyes. She was completely filthy, as if she slept in a garbage bin. Given the sight of her face, I had guessed she was Achlys, misery. The next was obviously Limos, because she looked like she hadn't been fed in years. Every bone showed through her clothes and her dry skin was cracked. Standing beside her was the shortest of the trio. She seemed to be the healthiest of the three, but she looked around greedily and when she smiled – a horrible sight – her teeth were as black as coal.

I did not want to be in Chiron's hooves. The centaur had nervously walked up to them and began talking to them. I didn't get to see what it was, because I was then pushed out of the way. I huffed at Kyle. "Well?"

"Well, what?" He asked a bit bitterly.

"Seriously, bro. Chill. You're letting them get to you. What're they saying?"

His eyes widened as if he just realized what happened. "S-sorry. Chiron's trying to persuade them into leaving." He shuffled to the side to make room for me again. "They don't look like they're about to submit."

"No friggen duh. They have us all in their greedy little claws." One of them turned in the direction of our window and I shivered. I ducked out of sight. I'd let the other two give me the play-by-play.

"Chiron's getting an earful…" Lucy stated. "He's gone quiet, I think he's about to snap at them."

_Not good…_

"Wait… They're walking away!"

"They're walking toward the forest, Lucy. I don't think that's the way out of camp."

"Wonderful. Just wonderful." I said sarcastically. "Best. Christmas. Ever."

XxXxX

We spent most of the day just wandering around our small cabin aimlessly. I was not meant to be kept inside like this. I wanted out. I wanted to run. I wanted to climb the rock wall or practice hopelessly with the sword. What gave Chiron the right to keep us in our cabins? I could make my own decisions! I wanted to march right up to him and say as much. I wanted to leave camp altogether – forget being a hero! I... I... I...

I needed to get control of myself. This wasn't me talking! The spirits' presence was affecting my mind, scratching on the edges of my already-short temper. If anything, I should be angry at them. And angry I was!

I growled, "We need to do something about them. We can't just wait it out!"

Kyle turned to me, and I to him. I expected he'd agree with me, but I was mistaken. "Cool it, Jade. The camp is prepared for this kind of situation. If we needed to fight them, we'd be out there already. Chiron and the rest of us councilors know what we're doing. Trust us."

"Oh. _You councilors_, huh? Kyle. Don't you think that whatever magic these spirits have might be messing with your all's judgment? Hunger alone can do that. And this is three times worse!"

"And you know exactly what to do? You've only been here for two months! Lucy knows more about handling these problems than you do. Leave this to the ones who can actually get things done."

"You sayin' I can't do worth shit?!"

By this time, we were in each other's faces, red with anger. I wasn't even paying attention to my surroundings. I didn't even see that Lucy had started crying until I heard sniffling to the side. Simultaneously, Kyle and I stopped glaring to take notice of our sister and immediately rush to her side.

"Gods…Lucy, we're sorry – "

She was having none of it. "You two are idiots. It's Christmas Eve! You shouldn't be fighting! And the spirits… Who wants misery, hunger, and jealousy in their lives? They must have never gotten respect before. Christmas is their exact opposite, so why wouldn't they be angry today of all days?"

I looked down in shame. I didn't mean to make Lucy upset, and she was absolutely right. We were family! Calling each other names, throwing around accusations, and letting all our pent-up anger out on each other was not sane. I could tell Kyle was in the same boat. But what Lucy said about the spirits… I hadn't thought of it that way.

I shot a look at Kyle and he returned it. Once again, it was as if we could read each others' minds – an apology that couldn't be put to words passed between us. Lucy finally stopped crying when I hugged her. "We should probably get some rest, huh? It's been a rough day."

XxXxX

It was still dark out when I was awoken by the sound of creaks and shuffling. I recognized Lucy's footsteps when she was trying to be sneaky. I figured she was trying to peek at the present I got her again, so I tried to go back to sleep. She could try to peek all she wanted. I double-wrapped, so I wasn't worried about her finding out. I was nearly asleep again when I heard the tell-tale creak and click of the cabin door closing.

I sat up, taking note of my surroundings. Lucy was nowhere to be seen. I shot over to Kyle, banging my head on the bunk above me.

"Kyle! _Kyle_!" I shook his shoulder. His response was swinging a sword at me. "_Woah_! Woah! Lucy just up and left!"

That woke him up. "What?!"

"I dunno! Boots!" No other words were needed. We quickly put our boots and coats on over our pajamas. I noticed that all of our food was gone, but I paid no more attention than that. We were armed and out the door within twenty seconds. Kyle immediately dropped down to track her progress through the snow. He pointed toward the forest.

To this day, I still don't know how Lucy can move that fast. But we raced on, following her trail, the occasional honey bun on the ground was the only way I could tell that Kyle was leading us right. It honestly didn't take long before we had found where Lucy had ran off to. I paled.

She was standing before them: Achlys, Limos, and Zelus. All eyes were trained on the little red-headed girl, paying no mind to us. The spirits, if anything, were even more hideous in person, but Lucy wasn't reacting badly. We came into hearing distance just in time to catch the end of what she was telling them.

" – day is meant for acceptance. I accept you for who you are, and I want to show my respect by offering what little food my cabin has left."

Lucy… the bravest seven-year-old I had ever known… She must have told them the same thing she had told us. The spirits seemed to chat amongst themselves in Ancient Greek. I didn't quite catch it, but they seemed to be delighted by Lucy's offer. Or was it amusement that this tiny girl was trying to appease them? They turned to Kyle and I for a second, but we were frozen in shock (or simply just frozen, I couldn't tell).

They all turned to Lucy again. Achlys nodded and smiled. "You are the first one to ever give us a proper offering. We… accept."

I wasn't sure how a bunch of chips and candy could be considered a proper offering, but I wasn't going to complain if Lucy was okay. The three spirits quickly gathered the food out of Lucy's arms. And then they just… disappeared. No more words spoken, no flash of light. Simply there and gone. I shook my head.

"Lucy… Did you just… save the camp?" She turned to us and smiled brightly.

"Nope! I just saved Christmas. Speaking of, can I open my presents now?" She began hopping up and down in excitement, smiling like a maniac. She held up a watch. I couldn't read it too well, with the thing shaking everywhere, but I could tell it was after midnight. It was, indeed, Christmas day.

Kyle laughed. "Yeah, Luce. I think you've earned it!"

This was one Christmas that I wasn't going to forget for a long time.


End file.
